United (The Guardians Book 2) (6 page)

Charles explained the terms of the deal to Zebb, who didn't seem to think it was enough, though he quickly agreed after Terelle backhanded him.

“So? The name of the partner?” Charles demanded. “Now.”

Zebb opened up his mouth to speak but before he could get out so much as a single word, Uang broke free of his hand restraints – something he must have been working on while all the attention had been on Zebb – and leaped up, his legs still attached to the chair. None of them had a chance to react as he grasped a hold of Zebb's head and yanked it to one side, snapping his neck and killing him instantly.

Everyone stepped back in horror. Charles and Gable pulled out their guns, aiming right at his head, but Uang just sat calmly back in his chair and folded his arms, smiling smugly at them all in turn.

“What the
hell
?” Gable breathed. Had Uang really just killed Zebb? Had
Uang
really just killed
Zebb
? The two of them were partners, had always been partners. Screwed up, crazy ass, murderous partners. Zebb and Uang had been Zebb and Uang for as long as Gable had known them.

She felt Ward shift slightly beside her and suddenly roots shot out of the ground, strong enough to break through layers of concrete, and wrapped themselves around Uang's arms and legs. Gable didn't blame Ward for his caution – that was one seriously sneaky son of a bitch.

Silence reigned for the longest time. It was Charles who finally broke it. “Bloody hell!” he raged. He span in a helpless circle, and then surprising them all, he pointed his gun at Uang once more. The clicking noise as he cocked it seemed to echo throughout the whole room. Uang stared down the barrel, unafraid, prepared to die for his secrets.

“We should stop him,” Ward said in a low voice. “Before he goes too far.”

“Why?” Cadby demanded. Gable glanced over at him, startled that
he
out of all of them was the  one to say it. He was usually so good and fair. But he was white and shaking and she realized that it was probably the first time he'd ever witnessed a real, cold blooded murder outside of battle. “He deserves it.”

Gable shook her head and stepped forward, slowly reaching up and placing her hand over the gun. She didn't have to wrestle it from Charles' grip; he gave it up easily. “You're a good man,” she told him. “You don't need this on your conscience.”

His normally handsome face was ashen and lined and he looked older than his thirty nine years. He took a deep breath and nodded. “Death would be too easy. He will rot in a prison for the rest of his pitiful life.” He bent over and shoved his face in Uang's, pointing towards the small window near the ceiling. “You see that sunlight out there? Take a good, long look and commit it to memory. It will be the last time you gaze upon it, I can guarantee that.”

Uang just shrugged a shoulder.

Charles stormed out of the warehouse. Gable followed behind him with a heavy heart.

“He destroyed our last lead!” he hissed, pulling at his brown hair. It was usually neatly combed to one side, but he looked oddly hot with it all messed up like that. “Without Pablo's partner we have no key and no way of getting to Zawavia. All of this has been for naught!”

“No it hasn't,” Cadby protested. Gable hadn't even realized he'd followed them. “We know more now than we did yesterday, and knowledge is power. We're so much closer to finding them.”

Gable shook her head. She was feeling so many things -  hope, despair, fear, anguish. There was a war inside her heart and she couldn't pick a side. “Uang killed him so we wouldn't find out who the partner is. Charles is right; knowing where they are is useless if we have no way of getting to them.”

“Actually, there is one other way.” They all span to face Terelle. She stood in the doorway, her expression grim. “But you're not going to like it.”

Guardian Officials arrived less than an hour later to pick up an unperturbed Uang. Gable watched them take him away with narrowed eyes, praying the sick freak was locked away in the dingiest, darkest cell they could find.

Then she, Charles and the Outcasts regrouped back at Yarmac & Bogely's, where Charles called a group meeting with the rest of his NYC Guardians. Not a member of the team, Gable was definitely not permitted to know the secret location of their headquarters – not that she gave a crap.

“So we know where the Outcasts are being kept but we don't know who's keeping them and we have no way of getting to them without this key thing?” Zay summarized, sitting back in one of Terelle's luxurious sofas.

“We have a way,” Charles corrected. “I think. Terelle was waiting for everyone to arrive before she explained.”

“Where is she anyway?” Walker demanded, pacing back and forth behind the sofa.

“She and Cadby are heading a meeting with the rest of her Outcasts. They're updating them on the situation.”

“What, everything?”

“Terelle doesn't keep secrets from her people,” Gable said distractedly, jiggling her foot up and down. Next to her on the sofa, she knew her constant fidgeting was pissing off Zay, but she didn't care. She was ready for answers and didn't want to wait any longer.

Across from them, Kain checked his watch. It was large and bulky and looked ridiculously high tech. “She should only be another minute.”

He wasn't wrong. They didn't have to wait much longer before Terelle glided in, Cadby and Ward at her side. She settled into her gold framed armchair with a dignified grace, placing her hands on her folded knees. “My people are pleased,” she informed the others with a dainty sigh. “They are certain we will find a way to bring our friends home soon. Expect to hear the sounds of celebrations any minute now.”

“We haven't found them yet,” Zay pointed out, disheartened.

“I have faith in us,” Terelle said. “I have faith in all of you. Besides, we should let them have this, at least for tonight. It has been a trying time for us all. We-”

“So you were gonna tell us how to get the Outcasts back?” Gable jumped in. Most wouldn't dare to interrupt Terelle, and those who did wouldn't get away with it, but Gable was Gable and Terelle was Terelle. Gable could get away with things others didn't. Though she probably wouldn't have cared even if Terelle hadn't been her best female friend – she wanted answers and she wanted Sacha and what she
didn't
want was to wait a minute longer.

“I can tell you how to get to the Dark Islands,” Terelle corrected. “Not how to get to the Outcasts or even how to get them home. Once you're there, the rest is up to you.”

“Aren't you going?” the nerdy science chick asked, brushing her wild curls out of her face. The freckles dusting her cheeks darkened as she blushed when everyone turned their attention to her. Gable reminded herself to learn her name – she was actually one of the more tolerable Guardians.

“I can't.” Terelle lowered her head and her long, perfectly straight dark hair fell over her face like a curtain. “A faerie without wings is like a great, flashing beacon to all other faeries. The second I crossed over they'd sense me and hoards would come from the dark region to assassinate me and everyone with me. Us Zawavians take our banishments quite seriously. Besides, it is near impossible for faeries to cross into a region not their own. I would surely perish the second I stepped foot on one of the Dark Islands.”

“Well that sucks,” Nicky stated unhelpfully.

“How exactly do we get to the Dark Islands without the key?” Charles asked, and Gable could have kissed him for bringing them back on topic.

“There's one other way for humans and Outcasts to get there,” Terelle began. “Most know nothing of this, not even other faeries. It's information only permitted to royals and those most trusted. The thing is, it's extremely dangerous.”

“How dangerous?”

“Possibly fatal.”

“Oh. . .yes, that does sound rather dangerous indeed.” He hesitated for a brief moment, like he wasn't sure he wanted to hear what was next. “Do go on.”

“There are certain spots around the human realm where the walls between this world and Zawavia are thin – thin enough to pass through.”

“Like a portal?” Walker suggested.

Terelle nodded. “These spots are rare, but they exist. And to get to the Dark Islands there is an area, a very small, specific area, at the bottom of the ocean a few miles outside of Hawaii. I am fortunate enough to know the precise coordinates.”

Kain raised an eyebrow, absentmindedly fiddling with his bow-tie. “So we. . .go to Hawaii? That doesn't sound too bad.”

“It's not quite that simple. You must go to Hawaii, find the specific spot in the ocean, and then. . . Well, then you must drown.”

Silence, and then, “WHAT?”

Everyone began talking at once, trying to be heard in their utter shock, their voices becoming louder and louder until eventually Gable leaned forward and slammed her hand down on Terelle's mahogany coffee table, so hard the teacups rattled and her palm stung in the most satisfying way. It wasn't like the idea of drowning appealed to
her
but honestly, she'd been expecting something worse. “Jeez, let her speak, yo!”

They settled, albeit reluctantly.

“You have to be at the very point of death before you can cross over,” Terelle continued to explain. “Once you're over you should be well again – if you're strong enough. However, if you don't cross over in time. . .”

“You drown,” Ward finished quietly. “And death claims you.”

“Well. . .” Gable said after a long, depressing pause. “That's kind of sick.”

Terelle shrugged a shoulder. “If you think that's bad, you should try crossing over to the Summer Fields. I won't go into detail, but it involves a volcano in Mexico.”

“You faeries are weird.”

Terelle smirked.

Charles blew out a long, resigned puff of air. “When you said fatal, I had quite hoped you might be exaggerating.”

“I never exaggerate.”

“Yes, I see that.” He rubbed his face tiredly, the recent events having taken a toll on him. “We need time to think this through very carefully-”

“I'm in,” Gable interrupted, determined. “You guys can do what you want, but I'm going to Hawaii.”

“Gable. . .” Nicky uttered desperately. She knew he still couldn't deal with her putting herself in so much danger. No matter how much time had passed, no matter what they'd been through together and apart, he still thought of her as that sixteen year old cheerleader who couldn't even change a tire.

“I'm in,” she repeated firmly. He needed to let her go, in more ways than one. “If there's even the smallest chance I can get Sacha back, I'm in. I'll do whatever it takes.”

He closed his eyes in defeat. “If you're going, then so am I.”

“Hold on just a second,” Charles said. “Before we do anything, I need to arrange a meeting with the Guardian Elders. We'll need their permission before any of us venture off on any missions, especially one as dangerous as this.”

“Not me,” Gable argued. “I don't need permission from anybody.”

“Nor do I,” agreed Ward, and then he grinned and winked at her when she raised a questioning eyebrow. “Yeah, I'm in too. Who am I to say no to a party?”

“Do you have a death wish or something?” Walker demanded.

“I just like to help.”

She rolled her eyes, her earlier fascination vanquished in the face of his apparent stupidity.

“The two of you can't take this task upon yourselves alone,” Charles tried to point out.

Gable gave him a look, like,
watch us
.
 

“Just let me meet with the Elders,” he reasoned. “Any help they can give can only be a good thing. It's worth one or two days more waiting. You'll need that time to prepare anyway.”

She sighed, pissed but seeing his annoying point. “Can I at least come?”

“To the meeting?”

“Sure.”

He looked hesitant at that. “I suppose. . .we'll see.”

It didn't take Charles long to organize a meeting with the Guardian Elders. Three days after they'd pried their information from Zebb, Gable found herself on a small, privately owned Greek island with Charles, Nicky, Zay and Terelle. Charles had left the rest of his team back in New York City to run things while he was away which meant no Walker, much to Gable's delight.

Though the island was 46 acres of pure, tropical paradise, there was no time to relax in the white sand or swim in the clear blue water. No sooner did they step off the Guardians' private jet did they have to make their way to the Elders.

“Why Greece?” Gable had asked Zay on the flight over as she'd relaxed back in the luxurious seats. Say what you wanted about the Guardians, but they sure knew how to fly in style.

“Huh?”

“Why do we have to meet the old guys in Greece?”

“Oh, right. Every time they come together it's in a different location in different parts of the world. Mainly for their own safety. There's a lot of bad guys out there who'd love to get their hands on them and their powerful positions.” He'd paused and his eyes had widened, probably because it was the first time he'd ever really let his guard down around her. “Wait, maybe I shouldn't be telling you this.”

“It's okay,” she'd assured him dryly. “I'm only evil part time these days.”

The island was small, but Gable had never seen anything so beautiful. The sea sparkled like tiny diamonds as the sun reflected off it and she was momentarily memorized – until she saw the beach house, that was. Surrounded by trees on one side and the beach on the other, the huge, three story building held up by thick pillars and decorated with golden cherubs was definitely. . .something. And if she hadn't been around Outcasts for so long, the fact that it seemed to be snowing directly over the house, and only the house, even though the sun was shining only a few meters away might have struck her as odd.

“What the hell?” Nicky asked no one in particular. The closer they got to the house, the thicker the layer of snow on the ground. He looked back at the calm ocean and the blazing sun once more, and then back at the snow covered house, puzzled. It was kind of cute.